Marvel Classic Novels--X-Men

by Christopher Golden

  It wasn’t going to work, though. They were on the next block when Titan called to them.

  “Don’t try to escape X-Men!” he said. “There’s nowhere you can run that I can’t find you.”

  Titan had grown even taller, and now simply stepped over the row of low buildings and into their path.

  “Quick,” Jean said, pulling Scott toward a partially destroyed storefront. “She’s this way.”

  “What about Titan?” Scott asked.

  “Oracle’s more important … Scott, heads up!”

  Where Jean was pointing, Oracle had stepped into full view from a darkened doorway. Obviously, she knew that she couldn’t keep herself hidden from Jean forever. But what was her plan now? The Royal Elite Corps of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard did not surrender.

  Cyclops blasted Titan again as the Guardsman came for him, but this new attack seemed to have less effect.

  “She’s gotten more powerful,” Jean said through clenched teeth, and only then did Scott realize that she and Oracle were locked in a battle of mental will and psionic strength.

  Titan was faster than he realized, and before Cyclops could return his attention to their fight, the Guardsman had lifted him off the ground and turned him upside down. Disoriented and struggling for breath, Cyclops let off a half-hearted optic blast. Titan held him so tight it was almost impossible to breathe, and Scott’s vision began to dim.

  Jean … he thought, but knew that she couldn’t take on Titan until Oracle was down. He was in trouble.

  * * *

  ROGUE and Gladiator had been trading blows for minutes, and she knew he was holding back. Her own strength was phenomenal, and her flesh nearly invulnerable to injury. She could go toe to toe with just about any being she had ever run across, and at least give a good accounting of herself. Gladiator was in another class entirely. His strength was such that any measure she could imagine could not define its limits.

  “Pretty clear to me y’all don’t wanna be here,” she said finally. “Why don’t you let us just disappear, sugar? I promise this ol’ gal won’t tell nobody.”

  They were more than one hundred feet in the air. Unlike Archangel, who needed his wings to stay aloft, their powers of flight were energy based, generated from their bodies. When they faced one another down, the only reason it couldn’t be called a standoff was because they weren’t standing.

  “As long as I am on Hala, I must do as Deathbird commands,” Gladiator said, and struck Rogue a blow that snapped her neck back and shot her more than three hundred yards away.

  When she was able to stop herself, she saw Archangel close by, keeping Starbolt busy. The Guardsman was sheathed completely in an undulating wave of energy that was somewhat similar to fire. His red uniform flowed in the same manner, and Rogue thought for a moment that it, too, might be generated from the alien’s body.

  Archangel was dodging Starbolt, his organic metal wings flashing in the sun. A barrage of silver feathers exploded from his left wing. They were tipped with a chemical that would paralyze any enemy, and Rogue thought Warren had it won there and then. Archangel obviously knew better, for he dodged out of the way of another blast of energy from Starbolt even as his feathers melted to slag before they could ever reach their target.

  Rogue wanted to help him, but she had Gladiator to think of. She massaged her jaw. Invulnerable or not, it was starting to hurt. She was about to go after him, but didn’t have to. Gladiator came to her.

  “Yer pullin’ those punches, Gladiator,” she said. “Not that I’m complainin’ mind you. But why don’t you stop this foolishness? You know Deathbird’s a crazy …”

  Gladiator swung at her again, but Rogue wasn’t about to take another one of his punches, whether he was pulling them or not. She feinted left, then simply ducked. The momentum of his punch pulled him forward in the air and Rogue put every ounce of her formidable strength behind an uppercut to Gladiator’s jaw. She felt a surge of pride in her chest as he shot up and backward a fair distance. He might be inconceivably strong, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be hurt.

  “Damn shame,” she muttered to herself. “Even with the mohawk and purple skin, he’s a fine lookin’ man.”

  She smiled, knowing Gambit would be jealous to hear her say such things. Or at least, she hoped he would.

  Even before the smile was off her face, Gladiator was rocketing at her again. Rogue knew that his speed, like his strength, far exceeded her own. Despite her flippant façade, she was an extremely intelligent young woman. She knew, without question, that she was not going to win her battle with Gladiator by using her fists.

  Beyond the other abilities she had, which she usually thought of as gifts, was another power. A curse. The bane of her existence. Whenever her bare skin touched that of another being, she absorbed their memories, special skills and abilities and, if they had them, extra-normal powers. She knew she would have to risk absorbing Gladiator’s powers, and try not to take too much. Once before, she had permanently stolen another person’s memories and abilities. She never wanted that to happen again.

  Problem was, Gladiator was covered from neck to toe. Only his face was bare. It wasn’t going to be easy to get that close. Still, Rogue had to try.

  Only seconds after she’d hit him, Gladiator was at her again. Rogue could see that he was angry, that there would be no more punches pulled in this fight, no matter how conflicted he might be about his orders. She tried to dodge and reach for his face, but he was going much too fast.

  Gladiator slammed both fists into her at extraordinary speed. Her eyes fluttered as she hurtled backward and she thought she might pass out from the pain and air pressure. Rogue could no longer concentrate on staying aloft, and crashed to the ground like a humanoid meteor. So dazed was she by Gladiator’s strike, that she barely felt herself hit the planet’s surface.

  It took her a precious few seconds to come around, and when she did, the battle had moved directly overhead. Archangel was trying to use both sets of wings to slash at Starbolt, with no success, and Gladiator was moving in on them. Several blocks away, Rogue could see Titan over the rooftops. He had Cyclops in his grip.

  All in all, Rogue figured it wasn’t going too well. She wondered how Gambit and Raza were faring, and where Jean had gotten off to.

  Then she had an idea.

  Shooting from the ground at top speed, she reached Archangel and Starbolt just before Gladiator.

  “Warren!” she shouted. “Take out the big guy with your wing knives!”

  Rogue hauled back her fist and belted Starbolt with only a fraction of her strength, then caught him as he began to fall, barely conscious. She watched as Archangel’s wings curled up behind him, reacting to her words seemingly before Warren could consciously command them. Gladiator tried to reach for him, but Archangel’s wing knives flashed out by the dozens, slashing through his Shi’ar body armor. Although Gladiator’s skin was nearly impenetrable, the feathers were enough to scratch him.

  With his strength and speed, Rogue had gambled that Gladiator’s metabolism would absorb the paralyzing chemical on Warren’s wing knives almost immediately. She was right. The Praetor of the Guard slowed down drastically. He reached for Warren and missed, and then began to drift aimlessly toward the ground under the planet’s gravitational influence.

  “Way to go, Warren,” she cried.

  It wouldn’t last long, Rogue knew. They had to make the best of it. Pushing away the fear of using her hated power, she pulled off one of her gloves, and reached for Starbolt’s face.

  “No offense, hon’, but I really don’t feel like kissin’ you, okay?” she said, forcing a smile she didn’t feel.

  Invulnerable to the flaming energy of his body, Rogue touched Starbolt’s cheek. Immediately, she absorbed his powers and part of his psyche. As she pulled her glove back on, she already knew why the Guard had come to Hala and what their responsibilities were to Deathbird. She understood, finally, their hesitation in battle. But there was nothing to b
e done about it. The X-Men couldn’t very well surrender simply because their opponents were half-hearted about their mission.

  “Scott’s in trouble, Rogue,” Archangel called, and with the fury of battle etched on his face, Rogue thought Warren looked incredibly sinister.

  “What are we waitin’ for, sugar?” she asked, and let go of Starbolt. She hadn’t siphoned all his power, and she knew from his memories that the fall wouldn’t do him too much harm.

  Side by side, Archangel and Rogue flew at Titan’s face. She glowed with Starbolt’s fiery energy, and blasted wave after wave of the burning power at the giant. Simultaneously, Warren shot wing-knives at Titan’s upper body. The gargantuan alien began to grow even larger, trying to counteract their paralyzing effect. Under Rogue and Archangel’s combined assault, Titan was forced to drop Cyclops. As Rogue continued to keep Titan busy, Warren swooped down to catch their leader.

  She looked down to see Archangel handing a shaky looking Cyclops over to Gambit and Raza.

  When she looked back up, Gladiator’s fist was in her face.

  * * *

  “MA chere, non!” Gambit yelled as Gladiator pummeled Rogue, holding her with one hand and landing several blows with the other.

  “‘Angel,” Remy said, grabbing Warren’s arm. “Get me up dere an’ I blow his head off!”

  Archangel was already flying. “Sorry, Gambit,” he called back. “You’ll only slow me down.”

  Gambit cursed and chewed his lip as he watched Archangel streak into the air toward Gladiator and Rogue. Despite the distance, he could see Rogue trying weakly to fight back. With her one bare hand, she reached out for Gladiator’s face, and Gambit knew she meant to absorb his powers. Unfortunately, it appeared that Gladiator knew it too. He struck her one last time, a backhand across the face, but didn’t hold on.

  “Mon Dieu,” Gambit whispered in awe and horror as Rogue was thrown by the blow. Gladiator had hit her with such force that by the count of three, she had disappeared from sight.

  Archangel flew directly at Gladiator, and Gambit found a new, profound respect for Warren Worthington. Gladiator could destroy him in a heartbeat if he got close enough, but Warren didn’t turn away. For Remy LeBeau, who had always been a cynic when it came to the concept of bravery, it was a lesson not soon to be forgotten.

  Perhaps afraid that Archangel would use his wing-knives again, Gladiator took the fight to Warren. Just as the two were about to clash, a huge hand shot up from below and simply plucked Warren from the air.

  “You’re making me angry little bird,” Titan said, his voice like intense thunder across the sky, so large had he grown.

  Gambit looked back at Gladiator, who was scanning the ground. Their eyes met, and the Cajun’s lip began to curl. His hands crackled with explosive energy.

  “Come down ’ere, homme,” he snarled. “Gambit’ll show you what we do back in New Orleans to men who hit ladies.”

  “Gambit!” Cyclops said, shaking him.

  Remy was frozen in place a moment longer, then turned to see that Scott seemed to have fully recovered from his bout with Titan.

  “Listen to me,” he was saying, though Gambit was so stunned by what had happened to Rogue that it took him a moment to hear the words. “Jean is a block behind you. Take Raza and retreat. Warren will be along shortly.”

  Gambit stared at him. His gaze was drawn to where, past Cyclops’ shoulder, Raza was trying to fight off a completely repaired Warstar with only his sword. Gambit had a moment to regret blowing up the Starjammer’s blaster, but pushed the thought away.

  “You got to be jokin’ wit’ Gambit, Cyclops,” he said. “You t’ink I …”

  “That’s an order, Remy!” Cyclops shouted. “I can’t take time to explain myself to you, damn it. Just go!”

  He spun on his heel and let off an optic blast of bubbling red energy that cleanly severed C’Cil’s left arm. A blast of lower intensity followed and knocked B’Nee from C’Cil’s back. Warstar was out of the game for a moment.

  “Raza!” Gambit called. “Let’s get out of here. De boss man got a plan!”

  Raza looked back to where C’Cil had picked up his arm and was holding it to the sparking metal stump. The mechanoid was already knitting itself back together, and B’Nee was advancing on Raza. The Shi’ar warrior lunged toward B’Nee with his sword, then turned and raced after Gambit, catching up to him in mere seconds.

  Gambit looked over his shoulder as they ran. Cyclops let loose with a wide beamed blast of red glowing energy that was so powerful it knocked Titan off his feet and forced him to let Archangel go. Remy winced, thinking about the Kree that might be trapped when his enormous body fell on already weakened structures. Archangel flew, somewhat shakily, in the same direction Gambit and Raza were running, and Remy wondered how he had come to know of Cyclops’s plan, whatever it might be.

  “Gambit! Raza! Come on!” Jean shouted.

  Remy looked up to see her in a standoff against Oracle. Oracle was certainly the most attractive member of the guard, he’d always thought. Her ice blue hair and snow white skin were set off by a uniform of pink and lavender. Very feminine but not exactly battle wear. Though, as a telepath, Gambit figured Oracle didn’t see much hand-to-hand fighting. As a psi and a physical combatant, Jean was far superior. Gambit didn’t understand why she hadn’t put Oracle down within minutes of the fight beginning.

  “I never imagined the X-Men were cowards,” a deep voice boomed behind them, and Gambit risked another glance to see that Gladiator was flying down toward them, ignoring Cyclops, who was busy battling Warstar again.

  That was a mistake. Gambit had fought alongside Cyclops long enough to know that, level-headed as he may have been, when his cool, calm leadership tactics were put aside for full-on war, Scott Summers was a dangerous man.

  The whipcrack sound of Cyclops’ optic blast came simultaneous with the blast itself, which struck Gladiator in the back of the head and sent him somersaulting through the air. Gambit thought he smelled singed mohawk. If there was one thing they all knew about Gladiator, it was that he had a temper. If they hadn’t already known it, they would have discovered it now.

  The Praetor of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard ignored the other X-Men and shot in the opposite direction, heading for Cyclops. Visible rays of heat and light, like the power of tiny suns, shot from Gladiator’s eyes right at the leader of the X-Men, and Cyclops met them with his own optic blasts. Gladiator had seemed to be holding off, wanting to capture the X-Men unharmed. That had changed when his temper finally boiled over. Otherwise he never would have used his eye beams, a power he rarely took advantage of. Gambit wondered if there were limits to that energy.

  “Get over here!” Jean yelled, and Gambit turned to face her again.

  Jean Grey had seemed to struggle with Oracle, but as Gambit, Raza, and Archangel approached, the look of desperation left her face. She raised her hands in a commanding gesture. Oracle cried out in pain, clutched her head and crumpled to the ground. The Shi’ar woman groaned in pain and moved slowly, trying to rise. Jean ignored her, and turned to face the other X-Men.

  “We’ve got to get to some cover,” she said. “I can shield us from Oracle if none of the others can see us.”

  “You could have taken Oracle out at any time,” Archangel said. “What was the point of stalling, Jean? We’re in real trouble here.”

  “Not if we retreat now,” she said sharply.

  “What of Cyclops?” Raza asked.

  “Come on, chere,” Gambit urged. “You love de man. We can’t just leave him behind! And what about Rogue?”

  Gambit studied Jean’s face. She had seemed colder than he’d ever known her, hardened to the bleak reality of the situation. But if what Archangel said was true about her not fighting full force against Oracle— and Gambit thought it probably was—what was the point of the battle in the first place? As he watched her, Jean’s brow furrowed and she bit her lip. It was a look Gambit had seen on the faces of too many peo
ple, too many women. It was a look of regret.

  “I’ve already got a mental fix on Rogue,” Jean answered. “We’ll go to her now. As for Scott, he’ll have to fend for himself.”

  The air was humming with the energy of Scott’s optic blasts and Gladiator’s super-heated vision. They all turned toward the spot where Cyclops was making a stand against the Imperial Guard, completely alone. Warstar had completed its repairs and was approaching from behind. A newly recovered Starbolt and the infuriated Gladiator were blasting him from the sky. Titan was holding back for the moment, but was just looking for an opportunity to snatch Cyclops up again.

  Starbolt fired a solid ball of energy, which Cyclops easily dispersed with his own optic blasts. But the barrage from Starbolt and Gladiator together was too much for him. While he was deflecting another attack from Starbolt, a blast of Gladiator’s heat vision knocked him down. In an eyeblink, Gladiator stood on the ground in front of him. The Guardsman hit Cyclops hard enough to leave him unconscious in the dust. The waiting Titan finally scooped their leader off the ground.

  “We can’t just stand by and watch this,” Archangel said.

  “An’ we ain’t gonna,” Gambit snarled and started heading back the way he’d come, hoping Raza and Archangel were following him.

  Gambit, stop! Jean’s thought-command struck him almost like a weapon, and he staggered under its power. Still, it was only communication, not an attempt to manipulate his mind. And his mind had only one goal: to save Cyclops.

  “Cyclops gave you an order, Gambit,” Jean said. “Follow it now or you’ll blow the whole mission.”

  “You mean all dis is …?” he began to ask, but Jean grabbed his arm and began dragging him away, Raza and Warren with them.

  “There’s no time for this,” Jean said. “We can’t allow ourselves to be captured.”

  Gambit ran alongside the others, but his mind raced even faster, trying to figure out what was going on. They’d been doing fairly well against the Guard, except perhaps for Cyclops and Jean. But maybe that was it. Maybe Cyclops was supposed to be captured.